Sunday, January 23, 2011

I have them all over the place. There are multiple notebooks & several on my phone. I even still have old planners that detail who had to be where & when. Those exhaust me to look at!

I've been making them since I was a kid.... homework notebooks, packing lists, journals & Christmas lists. Even further back were the "chore charts" & stickers. I'm pretty sure they were all an excuse to have pretty notebooks and even more important, an awesome pen. I can do some serious damage in Office Depot or a stationary store!

Not to mention, it's a great rush crossing something off a To Do List, no matter how small.

I haven't had a planner since 2007 & realized recently that I really miss it. It all goes into my phone or outlook to be synced, but I love paper & pens (obsession ??) and I think that writing something out helps me remember it. And I can always use help with that! So off I go to order a refill for my trusty Franklin Planner! She's been with me for many years & many events. Time to get reacquainted

Thursday, January 20, 2011

We got a little bit of snow here in CoMo. Ok, depending on who you listen to it's about 9 inches this time. It has been dubbed #snOMGeddon on Twitter. I don't know who came up with it, but I love it! But the snow itself, I'm still not a fan! In fact because of it I had a pissed off morning...

January 19th 5:15pm

6:00pm Not a big difference yet.

7:40- Ok, it's starting to come down pretty good now.

7:20am- Those little flakes have been busy!

My drive to work was easy with 2 exceptions- my subdivision road & the road right in front of the office. When I got to work, the lot had not been cleared with the exception of a couple little strips & I parked in one of them, turned of my car & was texting Adam to let him know I had made it. Then I heard it. One of the guys says "You're not really going to park there are you?" Pretty sure he didn't realize I had heard him. I quickly changed that when I threw open my door and shot back "Where do you WANT me to park?!" I moved, trudged through the snow and made my own path on the sidewalk.

I did a bit of venting on Twitter and proceeded to have a pretty good day. Until....

I left for the day and the wonderful plow guys had left a nice snow berm for me. Pretty sure they have no idea I write their checks... LOL

When I got home getting up the driveway was a little tough. So I started the shoveling. I had only been at it a few minutes when my awesome neighbors came out and we had it done in no time at all! We will be taking them to dinner soon for sure!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

So, I want a camera. Oh, you've heard that? Ok fine. So until then, I have a cute little toy to play with. It's a Kodak Play Touch. It's about the size of my Blackberry so fits right in my pocket. I don't want it to take the place of the camera that I have, but it's been fun!

Here are some of the settings.... Oh, and yes, I know my desk is a mess. Thanks for noticing though.

This is the "Normal" setting

This is "Color Saturation". I love this! Although I took one at the Mizzou game the other day and the gold of the floor was a bit much.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

There are annual events I've looked forward to for most of my life. The Wizard of Oz (pre VHS, DVD or On Demand). The Oscars. I'm a sucker for the red carpet the beautiful dresses & acceptance speeches.

And then there is Miss America.

When I moved to Missouri I found 2 kindred spirits. Kelly & Darla were also MA addicts, and so it began. Every year we watch together. Now together at times this meant in different cities, as was the case this year, but defiantly together. A constant stream of texts & a couple of conference calls. We haven't been split up since, I believe, since 2004. Makes it harder but not impossible. Over time our daughters, daughters in law, and this year, granddaughters are added.

Oh, and we don't just watch, we compete. No, we don't wear dresses, bathing suits or have talent contests in the living room. We choose our contestants and cheer her on, trash talk each other, critique those dresses, hair, bathing suits, shoes, talent & answers to the horrible on the spot question. It gets nasty.

Rules: You make a blind pick prior to the start of the show. This has become much harder in the last few years. The call of the web site is strong. If your blind pick does not make the first "cut" then you can choose one more time from the girls that are left. This may not work much longer though. What started out as the 3 of us has turned into quite a crowd!

Then its on! And this is what you take home if the girl of your choice takes home the crown.....

This is Darla's stand... mine is black & Kelly's is green.

Are you cracking up yet??

After blind picks were done, the girls went online to check out their picks.

The little girls are not usually included. My girls couldn't wait until they were "old enough" to come along! If only I used my power for good, I could teach them so many wonderful things.

Danee & Jamie. Jamie one of Danee's bestest friends & has been coming since 2007. That's the year we had to have it in a bar. Yep your heard me. The Adobe Cafe' in Springfield was our spot. Springfield had an ice storm and as the pageant was on a weeknight that year (jeez) we had to improvise.

Even Adam sat with us for a while. Pretty sure he thinks we are full on nuts!

Gabi's choice was Miss New York.

This year we finished in a way that's only happened one other time. Nobody won. But we still had lots of fun, some great food, and the tradition was passed to another generation. :o)

Friday, January 7, 2011

I made a very exciting drive west last week to St Luke's in Lee's Summit. My younger daughter had an ultrasound to see what she is having. We have been joking since a full moon or 2 ago that it might be a werewolf for all we knew! When I 1st found out she was going to have a baby, blue filled my brain. We already have 3 little girls. We NEED a boy right? But at the beginning of December I started dream of pink & black toile & I just knew.

My brain also started wandering... back 23 years, almost to the day! This picture was taken at Danee's baby shower in January of 1988. I was barely 21 & 1 month from delivery. Good lord, I didn't cut my hair the whole time I was pregnant! OK, I TRIMMED it, but that's it. Jeez, Courtney looks all kinds of pissed off at someone doesn't she?? She even got presents that night.

A year or so later and she was such a cutie!

Unless of course Courtney got in the way of the Christmas kitchen. Knock down drag out.

This is the PERFECT example of how this blog got it's name. One minute they are pulling each other's hair over a plastic kitchen & I blinked, opened my eyes and this is what I see. The sweet, happy little girl is about to be a mommy. It tears my heart out. It makes me mourn for the days when all she wanted was me.... *deep breath*

Here is the first glances of this little person that will bring her mama unbelievable happiness at times, and cause her to question her sanity at others.

The tech asked us right before she made the big announcement what we thought 'it' was. Everyone said 'girl'. We qualified it a little more by saying that we were kinda HOPING for a boy, but thought it was a girl. A few seconds later and here SHE is! And we are all as happy as can be.

Can I tell you that I am a very lucky mom? I am always very thankful that my daughters share so much of their lives with me. Well, mostly. My kids tend to tell me everything. I was present at the birth of my 1st 3 granddaughters. I will not be there for this one... and that is MORE than cool with me.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

This is what driving looked like on Christmas Eve. We waited until about 3 to make the call whether we would leave that day or early Christmas morning. Packed the car in a rush and off we went. We took my car.... front wheel drive & I have a little more snow experience.

Christmas was great. Whenever you have babies, it's bound to be fun. I love this picture. Miss Gabi sitting on her Nene's lap. The day didn't go exactly as I thought it would, but I'm adaptable. I think our holidays are going to be changing in the next year...

Gabi loves my camera as much as I do, and shanghaied it to take her own Christmas pictures.

Danee's EJ joined us and I was really glad he did.

Ray, Courtney & Gracie. Ray is not far from his thermos of coffee at any time!

He fits in pretty well. Poor guy!

Gabriella Danielle is such a ham!

So is Maggie of course.

Gracie got a bit overwhelmed. That many people = to much going on for the almost 2 year old!

This is what I mean by overwhelmed. Maggie had reached her limit of sugar, and toys & just lost it. 2 year olds should not have to do 3 Christmas' in 2 days!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

At this moment I'm sitting on the couch with Adam & Annie flipping back and forth between Fiesta Bowl & The Winter Classic. I'm also sitting here wondering what the hell happened to 2010! No, really. Where did it go?

The fact that it's all a blur is one of the biggest reasons I starting this blog. I wanted use it as a journal of sorts And my 1st New Year resolution has to do with blogging. The goal is to write here on a much more consistent basis. No more big gaps. If it's something that I want to remember, I will write about it.

The 2nd of my resolutions is mostly just to do some self improvement. I plan on taking some classes. Both for work, and a photography class or 2. Oh and of course a little weight loss & being more healthy in general. There will be no craziness like giving up caffeine but I'm going to start cutting out a lot of sugar.

Here's a toast to the future. A toast to the past. And a toast to our friends, far & near. May the future be pleasant, the past a bright dream. May our friends remain faithful & dear!